Obama will use a 30-minute speech in Wall Street today to reiterate the need for a fundamental shakeup of the banking sector, three months after he announced proposals for reform.

White House insiders indicated over the weekend that the US president will also declare victory in the battle to rescue America's banks, and explain how his government will unwind its support.

With many banks reporting profits again, America has recently been more focused on the battle for healthcare reform than the intricacies of financial regulation. The White House appears determined to use the memory of the failure of Lehman Brothers, in the early hours of 15 September 2008, to rally support for reform.

"People are upset because on Monday we celebrate the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse that caused a financial catastrophe unlike anything we've ever seen," said White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, yesterday.

Following the collapse of Lehman, the US government pumped billions of dollars into the system and took major stakes in Wall Street's biggest names. This action helped stabilise the system, but has not prevented the economy shrinking or the unemployment rate hitting a 26-year high.

• Tougher powers for the Federal Reserve to oversee the largest banks that pose "a systemic risk".

• Registration of hedge funds.

• A consumer agency to protect the public when they sign up for loans and mortgages.

The plan has encountered opposition in Congress, particularly from those who are unhappy about handing more power to the Fed. Some observers believe this could lead to the plans being watered down.

Lawrence Summers, Obama's economic adviser, said last week that getting a tough bill covering financial regulatory reform onto the statute book this year was a priority.

"It is important to recognise that while the events of the last year stand apart in their magnitude and their severity, they do not represent the first time that events emanating from the financial sector led to the disruption of the lives of very large numbers of people," he said. "Financial crises have been too large a feature on our economic landscape."

Obama's speech is scheduled to begin at 12.10pm EDT (5.10pm BST) at Federal Hall, the imposing building styled on the Greek Parthenon that stands on the opposite side of Wall Street to the New York Stock Exchange.

A year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, we look back on the event that led to widespread panic, tumbling markets, and brought our financial system to the brink. With Aditya Chakrabortty, Dan Roberts, Jill Treanor, and Polly Toynbee